2006-09-21T17:43:00.000Z

Creating a new recruitment model

The recruitment resources site Ri5 recently published an article about recruitment on the web which included the statement: “Educators, job consultants, media owners and employers have so far barely scratched the surface of the Internet’s potential as an employment information and marketing tool.” Yes. Definitely. In fact, I'd been thinking about this whole area for quite some time (and boring everyone I spoke to in the business half-senseless with my ideas), so this was the prompt I needed to finally get something down on paper...

Putting the recruitment and employment arena aside for a moment, it’s worth looking at how the web is changing as a whole. Not so long ago, people used it purely as a source of information. Now it’s increasingly about engaging with others, collaborating and sharing knowledge. New web communities are springing up by the day and attracting an ever-growing number of participants.

Ofcom’s recently published Communication Market 2006 report found that a staggering 70% of 16-24 year olds have used some kind of social networking site such as MySpace, which now has more than 100 million registered users worldwide. One in five 16-24’s also have their own website or blog.

41% of UK adults with internet at home say they have used social network sites, with around half of those doing so on a weekly basis. Nearly one third use them for discussing hobbies and interests, and a further 26% discuss work-related topics online.

From publishing to participation

This evolution of the web has been termed Web 2.0. In the words of developer and tech guru Tim O’Reilly: “It used to be that the web was about publishing. Now it is about participation and the sites that have figured out how to extend the ways they use participation are actually becoming more and more successful.”

According to O’Reilly and other advocates of Web 2.0, the move has been from publishing to participation, consumption to collaboration and commerce to people. They claim that this is more than an evolution, but a seismic shift that is changing the way the web looks and feels.

The implications for those who use the internet as a marketing tool are equally huge. It has already revolutionised the way many people make buying decisions. Instead of visiting a manufacturer or dealer’s site, they’ll turn to user review sites, discussion forums and blogs instead.

The BBC recently reported that more than three-quarters of consumers questioned in a survey said that they had consulted blogs before deciding whether to buy. Respondents said they trusted blogs because they are written by real people and based on actual experiences.

Suddenly all of those carefully crafted marketing messages don’t carry quite as much weight as they used to.

To tap into the power of this phenomenon, a growing number of organisations are establishing their own communities. Here, customers and potential customers can find out the latest product news and developments, get their questions answered and chat with other users. As these communities grow, companies gain invaluable feedback, intelligence and market insight.

Tim O’Reilly again: “I think that we’re increasingly going to see the web as just an invisible part of our daily lives. Access to information is already, at least for the net connected, radically different than it was a decade ago. So there’s access to information at a profoundly different level and I think we just take that for granted.”

Recruitment Communications 2.0?

Despite all of this happening right in front of our eyes, recruitment communications is still firmly entrenched in the Web 1.0 model. We publish information that we think our audience wants to hear and they consume it. In fact, that’s the Web 0.0 model too. It’s the way that it’s always been done.

But as the internet becomes more enmeshed in the fabric of people’s everyday lives, this approach will become totally alien to the way they interact with people and businesses on a day-to-day basis.

Look at it this way: if someone can ‘talk’ to a company’s staff and product users before they choose a washing machine, then why, with something as infinitely more important as finding a job, do they still have to communicate through formal channels from one side of a corporate wall?

Through discussion forums, blogs, live Q&A sessions and more, recruiters can not only engage with today’s potential applicants, but those of the future. The employer brand lives. And by bringing current employees into the dialogue, that wall between the company and the outside world will begin to break down.

A scary thought perhaps. But as marketers are now discovering, the days of having complete control over the messages that get into the marketplace are over. In seconds, you can find a discussion forum where users review laptops. How long before a site appears giving people the opportunity to share experiences of employers?

We have the tools to build relationships with people. Employers can get to know the individual behind the CV. Applicants can get to know the organisation behind the copy. This deeper mutual understanding can only increase the opportunity to attract the right people and recruit them into the right roles.

Finding new ways to engage people

Clearly, the world of recruitment communications is not about to change overnight. But if we accept the fact that the way people use the web is evolving, that change must happen.

Perhaps the first step is to think of simple ways to engage people more effectively. Could we do more than post standard company recruitment blurb and job ad copy? Even a question and answer facility viewable by all visitors (ebay style) would be a beginning. And instead of the now standard ‘employee case studies’ that appear on so many sites, how about the facility for applicants to ask them questions directly?

Despite what many people think, the web hasn’t yet revolutionised the world of recruitment communications. But it will. First though, we need to see the internet as more than just another medium, but a whole new way of communicating with people. The model we’re currently working to was created around one-way channels. It’s time to start building an entirely new model from the ground up.

While some in the recruitment communications industry may react to this whole concept with a sense of shock and “where the hell’s our revenue going to come from”, others will see the business potential right away. In an increasingly crowded and noisy webspace, attracting, engaging and inspiring people will demand ever more creative solutions. At the same time, online communities need to be managed. Brands need to be guarded. Dialogue needs to be established. And despite the new landscape, recruitment messages still need to be delivered.

So, who’s going to be first to start exploring the possibilities?

This article appeared on Ri5 in September 2006.

the view from the hill